13. Pervaiz Alam - BBC has toned down its criticism of Modi and the government

In this episode of Election Beat, senior broadcaster Pervaiz Alam, who began his career at All India Radio and worked at BBC World Service for several years, says the coverage of the 2024 elections by YouTubers is a point of interest in the western media's coverage of the elections. Pervaiz Alam also speaks about the restructuring of the BBC after the “tax survey” carried out by Indian Income Tax authorities soon after it released the two-part documentary India: The Modi Question, which was eventually banned from screening in the country by the BJP. He says that since that incident, the British public broadcaster is no longer as harsh in its criticism of Prime MInister Narendra Modi or the government. He also recalls a time when the Indian state broadcaster All India Radio and the BBC collaborated to cover the 1993 assembly elections in five states — something that he cannot fathom happening now given the political atmosphere.